(Rabiul Akhar 24, 1405 H./Jan. 15, 1985 )

The purpose of this seminar was to clarify the Islamic legal opinions concerning the topic put forward for discussion as the issue of life and death confronts the Muslim doctor in the daily practice of his profession. In cases where such a doctor has to   take a medical decision that may affect the life of a patient positively or negatively, he would want to have the assurance that he is perfectly aware of the implications of his decisions for the provisions of the Islamic law and that he is acting within the safe bounds of this law. With the development of medical sciences and the great advances in modern medical technology, there has arisen a dire need for a joint look at the medical issues relating to matters of life and death by experts of medical science and Islamic law.

The papers presented to the seminar dealt with human life: its beginning and end, from a medical as well as a legal perspective. The discussions aimed to reach a sound opinion related to this issue based on the provisions of the Islamic Sharia so that Muslim doctors may not be left to act upon their own personal judgements if they face the issue in the course of their daily work with patients. The subject of organs transplantation received a special attention from the participants of this seminar which attracted a large number of distinguished scholars both in medicine and Islamic law.

Conclusions and Recommendations

First: The Beginning of Life

Life begins at the moment when a male sperm penetrates a female ovum and becomes united with it. The impregnated ovum constitutes the first cell that contains a full genetic record of the human kind in general and of the individual foetus itself that will  distinguish it from any other being at any point of time. This first cell will then start reproducing itself throughout the various developing stages of the  conception period until the moment of birth.

The moment a woman conceives and the conceptions said to be stable in the uterus, the life   shining in this uterus has full respect and is protected by established Islamic law provisions.

If  the foetus reaches the stage when a soul is  breathed into it (some say after 120 days, others after 40 days), its sanctity becomes greater as agreed upon, and this results into certain provisions of the Islamic law.

The most important of the above mentioned provisions are those connected with abortion. These were adequately covered in item 7 of the recommendations made by the first seminar on "Begetting Children in Islam".

Second: The end of life:

1. The seminar concluded that in most cases where death occurs there is no real difficulty in recognizing it on the basis of commonly known indications or as determined by preliminary medical examination which ascertains the absence of life signs in the deceased.

2. The seminar came to realize that in very few cases where the patient is usually under a comprehensive medical observation at hospitals, specialized medical centres or intensive care units, a case may assume a special importance because of the dire need to diagnose it as a death case despite some faint indications commonly known to be of life, whether these exist on their own rights in certain organs of the body or are effected by the resuscitation equipment connected to the body.

3. Referring to books on traditional Islamic jurisprudence for texts dealing with signs of death, the seminar participants concluded that no such text can be found, as diagnosing a death case has always been a purely medical matter. As men of Islamic law can only base their opinions on what is medically determined to be sure  signs of death, the participating medical scientists presented the seminar with modern medical data concerning the occurrence of death.

4. From the above mentioned presentation it was shown that a death case is established only if the brain stem becomes void of life signs as this part of the brain is responsible for the basic biological functions.  This is what is termed "death of the brain stem".  The diagnosis of "a dead brain stem" cannot be given unless certain clear conditions are met, and after certain border line cases are taken into account.  Thus, a doctor is in fact able to establish a case of death with a fair amount of assurance if he finds that the brain stem is lifeless.  Any of the other organs or basic functions such as the heart or respiration may stop temporarily, but can be reactivated as long as the brain stem is still alive.  Thus the lives of many patients can be saved.  A case can only be considered hopeless if the brain stem is established to be dead, in which case the life of the patient can be said to have ended even if movement or function remains for a while in the other organs of the body as these will definitely come to a standstill after the death of the brain stem.

5.  Based on this presentation of facts, the participating Islamic jurisprudents were of the opinion that  apatient reaching the established stage of "death of the brain stem" is considered legally dead on the analogy, with a well known difference, of what is mentioned in the literature of jurisprudence about a slaughtered person.  Applying the rest of death provisions, however, should in the opinion of the participating jurisprudents be postponed until all the main organs stop completely.  The seminar recommended that a further detailed study should be made to determine which of the death provisions should be applied immediately and which of them should be postponed.

6.  Based on the foregoing, it was agreed that if the death of the brain stem is established in a report by a specialized medical committee, artificial resuscitation through medical equipment may be discontinued.